Overview

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Beirut is a quirky look at international basketball from Saudi Arabia to Hungary and on to Beirut with an American coach as the guide.

It's hard to coach a team when your players don't show up. Mafi muscula. Hard to make air flights without reservations. Mafi muscula. Can't tape ankles without tape. Why isn't Darrin here from the States yet? Mafi muscula. Can't understand these Hungarian menu forms...we could starve. Mafi muscula. We're almost out of tea. Mafi muscula. In Arabic, mafi muscula means "no problem." But a better definition is probably: "no problem for ME, big problem for YOU." Saudi Arabia is where mafi musculas start, but they don't end there. From Saudi it's on to a training camp near Budapest then onward to Beirut for the basketball championships of the Eighth Pan Arab Games. Some funny things happen along the way. And there, too.

Author Bio: In addition to coaching and writing in the United States, Pat Stewart has coached basketball in 9 other countries and has traveled around the globe several times. Married, with 2 children, he is currently the National Team coach of the Gulf State of Kuwait.